


Falling

by SaphTea



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29250711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaphTea/pseuds/SaphTea
Summary: The first time it happens, Reki doesn't do it on purpose. It's just a small thing, something his mom always used to do. It's only when he's holding Langa's hand a second later, when he realises that most guys don't kiss their friends hand to make the pain go away.
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 34
Kudos: 493





	1. Chapter 1

The first time it happens, Reki doesn't do it on purpose. It's just a small thing, something his mom always used to do. It's only when he's holding Langa's hand a second later, when he realises that most guys don't kiss their friends hand to make the pain go away.

Langa is staring at him, his blue eyes wide. "Ah, I'm sorry it's just-" But before Reki could continue apologizing, Langa had already shrugged it off. He quickly grabbed his skateboard and rolled away, back to practising.

Reki is still a little dumbfounded. Why, pray tell, did he decide to do that? To be honest, Langa just looked so pitiful. Holding up his hand like he didn't know what to do with it... Reki was trying to teach him to make a quick turn, when Langa had fallen. He had landed on his hand in an unfortunate way. Quick to help, Reki had grabbed it to inspect it. Luckily there weren't any signs of broken bones or anything else. Just a small scrape. Must've been shock then. While sitting there, his eyes shooting from Langa's sad eyes to his sore hand, Reki had moved without thinking.

Oddly enough, Reki could still feel his lips tingling where they had touched skin. 

"Reki!" ,Langa shouted from a distance, shocking him out of his train of thought "Reki, what am I doing wrong?" 

"I'm coming!" Reki ran towards Langa, shaking his head to rid of his worries, believing that would be the end of it.

As it turns out, it wasn't.

Just a few days later, Langa fell over a small rock in his way. He fell on his side, badly bruising his elbow. "I'm still not used to the extra friction." He told Reki, who was inspecting the wound. "Falling over such a small thing... I did see it, I just didn't realize the damage it would do!" Reki laughed. "Well, you have to be careful. You might be used to using an entire board to glide over a surface, but this isn't the case on a skateboard! Essentially, you're standing on four small wheels... Block one of them, and well-" he signatured at the bruise "you might make a nasty fall!" Langa frowned, obviously not sure what to do with this piece of information. Meanwhile, Reki had finished his inspection. "You got lucky again! No serious harm" Reki softly slapped the bruise, as to prove nothing was wrong. "Ouch!" Langa retracted his arm, looking even more displeased. "I must say, I preferred the kiss" "Eh?" "Well, it hurts less." He explained dryly, as if he didn't just say something outrageous. "Well, I could still give a little magic kiss" Reki joked. Langa's answer was without hesitation and immediate. "Yes please" He held up his elbow. Reki, too shocked to do anything, stayed still. It only took a few seconds before Langa pressed his elbow to Reki's lips himself. "Thank you!", He cheered. "Wait-" But Langa was gone. Again. He seemed to have quite the talent for leaving Reki questioning.

Langa had quickly gone back to skating, after he had thoroughly searched for small objects of which he was low-key convinced were out to get him. Reki couldn't really describe the feeling as anything other than odd. That's probably why he was blushing as well.

In the coming weeks, Reki kept wondering about a few things. Langa had lived in Canada for quite a while, hadn't he? Maybe this was more common practice to do this over there. He didn't seem shy or bothered about these kisses at all. He's from a different background, so maybe he doesn't understand how weird this is to me. And that brings us to the second point. Because despite being quite aware of the fact that people don't usually kiss their friends pain away, Reki didn't mind it. Why didn't he mind it? It had never been normal for him to kiss his friends... Even his mom hadn't really done it since he was a kid.

Despite Reki's identity crisis, life went on. Which of course meant skate practice went on. And while Langa might have been brilliant during his first race in S, he was still clearly a beginner during practice. And being a beginner, meant falling. Falling meant bruising. And bruising meant... Kissing?

Oh, yeah. That was the third thing Reki kept wondering about. If he found it so weird to kiss Langa, then why had it become so normal for them? Because they didn't stop after those two kisses. Nope. From that point onwards, whenever Langa fell, Reki was there to help. At this point, he had kissed his hands a multiple times. His elbows, his arm... Reki had kissed Langa's knees four times in total, which he had specifically counted for some reason. 

Langa also sprained his ankles a few times, which Reki hadn't kissed. Which means there were... two times he hadn't kissed Langa better when he had hurt himself. Wait, was it two or three times now tha- "OOMPH-" Reki had been so distracted, he had skated right into a WALL. God. The last time that happened must've been... Five, six years ago? How embarrassing.

"Reki! Are you alright?" Langa came rushing towards him. He knelt down besides Reki, and quickly set down his board. "Was it a rock?" Langa asked very seriously. He still felt very strongly about rocks. And not in a good way. "No it wasn't- and I'm fine, thank you" Reki wanted to get up, but Langa gently held him back. "Wait. Look at my finger", he demanded, as he swayed it around. Reki followed it. Langa continued to ask him a few questions. Reki knew this was just to check whether he didn't have a concussion, but it was a bit embarrassing nonetheless. "Okay good. Now blink" Reki obeyed. "Everything seems to be okay!" Langa cheerfully announced. "Though this might be a sign that this is enough practice for today" Reki agreed, still a bit out of it.

"Well then" Langa tapped him on the forehead "we best be moving on" He moved forward, and pressed a gentle kiss on his brow. He held it there for just a second before he pulled away. Then Langa reached out his hand, and pulled Reki up. "Let's go" Langa grabbed his board from the ground, and tucked it under his arm. "Let's get some Italian food!" He seemed pretty set on it, as he was already walking in the right direction.

But Reki didn't immediately follow. He was still frozen in place, watching his friend walk away. His face was burning, tingling even. 

"Oh.", he whispered.  
"That's why I didn't mind..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I still have a second part stowed away, but I might edit it based on how this part is received. Also, might still edit this haha. Hope you enjoyed :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Needless to say, the coming week was tough for Reki. The poor guy couldn’t seem to control his thoughts. Everytime he looked vaguely into Langa’s general direction, his cheeks flushed. And on top of that, everything reminded Reki of him. It was like he couldn't escape him. (Not that he was entirely sure he wanted to)

Needless to say, the coming week was tough for Reki. The poor guy couldn’t seem to control his thoughts. Everytime he looked vaguely into Langa’s general direction, his cheeks flushed. And on top of that, everything reminded Reki of him. It was like he couldn't escape him. (Not that he was entirely sure he wanted to) And everytime, Reki couldn’t help but get flustered.

Another thing he had become painfully aware of, was their tendency to touch. Why he hadn’t noticed before was unclear, because it happened all the time. Langa would lean on his shoulders. When things didn't work out the way he wanted to, Langa would plop down on his lap to complain. And when he was excited, Langa would grab his hands. And Reki would flush, and stutter, and even trip on one occasion. Luckily school had been rather intense this week, so they hadn't had much time to skate. Which also meant, they hadn't fallen -at least not in the literal sense- and no healing kisses were required.

Naturally, Langa was oblivious to Reki's struggles. For Reki It had been a long week of stress and palpitations. But! it was finally Friday. Which meant he could finally rest. Have a weekend to himself, maybe.

So Reki was at home, staring at the blue cheese his mother served, wondering how in the hell this reminded him of Langa’s flowy blue-greyish hair. Meanwhile, the cause of his frustrations was happily making his way over. 

For Langa, it had been a fairly normal week after all. He had worked hard, focussed on school and struggled with math. It was only natural that after such a long week, there was nothing he'd like more than hang out with Reki.

Langa had wondered why Reki hadn’t invited him over today, seeing as they basically spent all their free time together. Maybe Reki was very tired? Or maybe he just forgot. He’d figured that Reki wouldn’t mind him coming over, especially since he brought a new switch game. It was called “An untitled goose game”, which seemed a bit silly to him, since that was obviously a title. Maybe it was exactly the silliness they needed to relax.

He rang the doorbell, shortly wondering whether he should’ve said he was coming. Reki could be out, after all. Luckily, his mom opened the door. “Hello miss! Is Reki home?” She nodded, and quickly pointed him upstairs. “We just finished dinner, so he’s probably studying right now.” “Thanks miss!” Langa cheered. 

“Hey Reki!” He stepped into the room. “Wanna play a game?” Reki was sitting at his desk, and turned around quickly. “Huh Langa?” Reki seemed a bit shocked to see him. “Hi!” Langa repeated. He dropped his bag on the bed, and made his way over to his friend “What are you doing?” He tried to sneak a peek, while resting his head on Reki’s shoulders. “Hey that’s me!” He pointed at the screen. “Uh- Yes! I was uhm, looking whether I could see where you make the most mistakes… When skating, I mean. To, uh, improve” Reki seemed quite fixated on the screen, not turning around to face Langa like he usually would.  
“But I remember this.” Langa questioned, “I didn’t fall here.” He tried to reach over, to skip to a part where he did fall, before Reki interrupted him.  
“oh well, it doesn’t matter.” Reki quickly got up, pushing Langa away from his shoulder. “What game did you bring?”

Oh fuck, oh fuck. Did Langa suspect anything? That was weird right. Yeah, Langa is probably weirded out. Damnit. Why did he even put on that video? Was it really the cheese that made him? THE GODDAMNED CHEESE? Only because it's called blue cheese? God I'm in deep. Why did his mom even let Langa in...  
Well, I guess that’s normal though. Reki had also shown up at Langa’s a few times unannounced. Okay, okay. Let’s look at this objectively. Reki had been reminded of Langa, and wanted to see him. Then he pulled up one of the recordings, which they had made so that they could judge their own technique more critically. Okay, so far so good. Then Langa had walked in, and he had told him that he used the video for its intended purpose? So… technically there is no problem. Yep. we’re all good. Nothing weird going on here. Totally normal.

Reki looked over at Langa, who seemed very invested in being a goose. He was frowning a little, as he tried to escape from being caught. He almost looked as serious as when he’s trying to perform a new trick. Reki had never really been able to see that face from up close. Did he always slightly bite his lip when concentrating? 

“Argh, damn it. It’s your turn.” Langa pushed the controller into his hands, and let himself fall back on the bed. “I guess I’m not cut out to be a horrible goose.” Realising he had been staring, Reki blushed. “I don’t feel like being a goose anymore either.” Reki wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway. He leaned back against the wall.  
“Grab your laptop.” Langa instructed. “We’ll watch some more practice videos” Reki reached over, and handed his laptop to the boy. Langa opened it up, and clicked through the tabs. He frowned. "You should focus on yourself more, Reki.” he said. “I appreciate that you’re trying to help me, but you shouldn’t forget yourself!” Reki seemed confused. “What do you mean?” “Well, these are only videos of me!" Langs pointed out, "Like, you are completely focussed on me, but what about you?” Reki flushed. “Ah, well, uhm-” He coughed. “It’s because you’re still a beginner! And I want to help, haha” Langa shook his head. “Let’s just watch a movie, or something. I don’t think I really want to practice after all.” 

Langa browsed on netflix a bit, before settling on some random movie they hadn’t seen before. He’d put the laptop on his lap, which meant that Reki had to lean in quite close to see the screen. Determined not to make his friend feel uncomfortable, Reki was hyper fixated on the movie. Well, at least his eyes were. His mind was racing. He was sitting so close... It was no wonder it took him a while to realise Langa’s breathing had changed. 

“Langa…?” He leaned back, checking in on his friend. “Langa are you asleep?” A soft snore was the answer.  
Reki leaned back a bit more, so that he could see Langa’s face. His hair had fallen into his eyes a bit, hiding Langa’s face. When the urge to tuck it behind his ear came, Reki didn’t really fight it. But when he tried, Langa’s hair kept falling back into his face. Reki couldn’t help but chuckle at his own incompetence, as he tried again. After three tries, he gave up.

“Well, I guess that’s fine..” ,he whispered to himself as he stared at his friend once more. He thought back about the kiss. About how his forehead had burned every time he remembered. How he had been thinking about Langa all week, but still hadn’t truly admitted what it meant. Maybe this was his chance? Reki swallowed, suddenly a bit scared. He was… Really asleep right? "I… probably shouldn't say this but…" Was he really going to do this?

“Langa.”, he whispered as he slowly leaned in, “I like you.”

He tried to tuck away Langa’s hair one more time, and pressed a small kiss on his lips. He held his breath while softly caressing Langa's face with his free hand. And as his blue locks slid back in front of his eyes, Reki pulled back.

He still had his eyes closed, terrified of what he might see when he opened them. A loud snore broke his train of thoughts, and let him sigh in relief. When Reki looked at his friend again, his blue eyes were still shut. 

Reki wanted to feel guilty. And maybe he did. But for now, he was too distracted by the pounding of his heart. He stood up, and looked at Langa one more time. Then, as he hid his face in shame he left the room.  
He definitely needed some time to process that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed reading your comments! Sorry the second chapter took so long, but I wanted to make sure I wrote something fun instead of rushing it :)  
> Hope you enjoy (and yes there will be more chapters, obviously)


	3. Chapter 3

So, Langa had a problem. You see, something had happened. And it had to do with Reki. 

Langa did not know how to deal with it. What had happened? Well Langa and Reki were watching a movie. And it had been a long week. You know, one of those weeks where every minute feels like an hour? Yeah. It had been a week like that. Obviously, Langa had been very, very tired. So when the movie turned out to be pretty boring, Langa had fallen asleep almost immediately. 

The problem had occurred while he was sleeping. Basically, he'd had a dream. A very weird, and odd dream which probably didn't mean anything. But in this dream, Reki kissed him. 

Now I hear you thinking; ah, what a strange dream. Langa must've laughed about it, and then forgotten it ever happened. That's what most friends would do, after all.

Well, the thing is: Langa couldn't stop thinking about it. He was thinking about it so much that he couldn't bring himself to come close to Reki anymore. Langa was so self-conscious that he even ended up forgetting his bag. After about an hour of nervous shifting, and trying to ignore the loud pounding of his heart, he had gotten up, stretched like he had slept for weeks and very loudly stated. "WELL THAT WAS FUN. SEE YOU SOON" and left. 

He’d only realised that wasn’t exactly normal etiquette for leaving a friends house, once he was standing outside again. Hopefully Reki would just assume it was a Canadian thing. Langa felt like he could get away with a lot if he just said that. Reki would probably fall for it. 

But that’s besides the point. What was Langa supposed to do now? Would he be able to face Reki at school on monday? And why the fuck did he keep tasting cheese? He didn’t even eat cheese. 

Reki wasn’t doing much better. When Langa left in such a rush, he realised something. He must know. Langa must’ve woken up, and pretended to be asleep. Which means that he knows. There is no other possibility. Reki messed up, and Langa thinks he’s disgusting. He felt like crying. He was alright with the… feelings he had. He wasn’t alright with losing his best friend.

So what now. Should he apologise? Wait no. Think. Maybe Langa just needs some time. He probably won't hate me for this, Reki realised, but he will need some time. Who wouldn't? So, let's give him some space.

For the entire weekend, Reki managed to suppress the urge to text Langa. He even avoided the skate ramp where they always met up. Honestly, Reiki didn’t even skate. That was rare. A day not skated, is a day not lived after all. But he was happy to make that sacrifice. Because if he didn’t go, that meant that Langa could skate without being bothered by him. 

It’ll be worth it, just a bit more, and he will talk to me again.

Coincidentally, that’s also what Langa kept telling himself. Don’t ask how, but Reki must have figured out. He knows about the dream. He must. It’s already Sunday evening, and he still hadn’t texted Langa. Which obviously means he’s either disgusted, or furious. Langa could only think of two ways in which Reki could have figured out. One, Langa said something in his sleep. Two… Langa grew red just at the thought of it. Nope. Let’s just hope that wasn’t the case. Because if that was true? Their friendship would pretty much be doomed.

Though, over the weekend Langa had realised one thing: Their friendship might be doomed either way. Because he hadn’t exactly stopped thinking about that dream. And at this point, it wasn’t the only dream he’d had about his friend either. At this point he was rather sure that he didn’t want it to be just a dream. 

Langa had gone to the skate park twice today, waiting for Reki to show up. He hadn’t, and it broke Langa’s heart. It was then that Langa realised that whatever he felt for Reki wasn’t important right now.  
All that was important, was getting Reki to trust him again. No, even getting Reki to talk to him again would be enough. Even if it meant bottling up these newly discovered feelings. 

Just one more night, and he’d have to face him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These idiots give me life lmao; nothing is more frustrating than miscommunication, but BOI is it fun to write


	4. Chapter 4

Reki was staring out the window, trying to sort out his thoughts. There was nothing he wanted to do more than apologize to Langa. He regretted kissing him so much, that it made his stomach churn. He'd made up his mind. 

Did time always pass this slowly? Reki sometimes counted down the seconds until class was over, but even the most boring classes didn't compare to today. It seemed like the clock was only there to torture him. The hands of it ticking in time with his loudly beating heart. It didn't help that he hadn't been able to eat all day. 

So when the bell finally rang, Reki got up immediately and grabbed Langa by his arm. He pulled his friend along, until they were alone. Reki was hesitant to let go and decided to hold on for a bit longer.

"Look Langa", he began "I'm -"

"It's disgusting, isn't it?" Langa harshly interrupted. Reki's heart sank. Fuck. Langs hated him. Of course he'd be disgusted. Who wouldn't be, after being kissed by their best friend? He imagined how betrayed Langa must have felt. He thought he was safe and then Reki went along and did that...

"We should just... Forget about it." Reki offered, fighting back tears. He had let go of Langa's hand. 

"Will you be able to forget?" Langa asked. 

Reki thought about it. Would he be able to forget he liked Langs? Would he be able to pretend like the sensation of his friends lips against his own didn't feel like heaven?

"Yes, I will.", He lied.

"I'm sorry." 

Reki wasn't sure what Langa was apologizing for.

"Me too."

A pause.

"Let's not meet up for a while." Langa whispered. "It will help you forget about me."

And that was it. For some reason, before Langa said that, Reki had still been trying to convince himself that it had been a miscommunication. That some weird coincidence had happened, and that Langa didn't know he kissed him. 

But Langa had confirmed his worst fear. Forget about me, he said.  
Langa knew about everything, and he was disgusted.

And despite that, he was still willing to give Reki a chance. How kind. Fuck, he really didn't deserve his kindness, did he? 

"Thanks Langa.", He choked out.

I love you, Reki thought.

"I'll forget about you.", Reki said as he looked up. Langa met his eyes. Reki didn't hold back his tears anymore, when he saw his friends eyes were puffy. He hadn't dared look at Langa all day. he'd been terrified. And now that he finally did look at him he felt horrible. He didn't want to see Langa this sad. With tear tracks down his face, and his shoulders tense. But it was his fault.

And despite everything, Langa still looked beautiful. And Reki would do anything for him, he realised. Even if it meant bottling up his own feelings. He'd make this right.

"Well then.", Reki sniffled. "See you when things are normal again?" He tried to sound cheerful, but it came out unsure. His voice was hoarse, after all. Reki swallowed and turned around. He walked away in a haze, not entirely sure where he was going.

He didn't know what to do either. Normally he'd go skating to clear his head, but how could he go without Langa? How could he even go home, without imagining Langa on his couch? 

He'd reached the schoolyard, when a familiar voice called out to him.

"...Langa?"

Reki turned around, his face one big mess of snot and tears. He must look pathetic. 

"Reki.", Langa panted.

"I don't think I want you to forget."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why, pray tell, did I decide to make this originally cute fic sad? 
> 
> This is a genuine question. WHY.


End file.
